Augmented Reality Comes to Televisions with Telibrahma's Point at CES 2013

Augmented reality has been part of our lives for some time now. Often appearing with mobile devices to give users a better idea of where they're going with directions, or what they'll be doing when they get there with information about local buildings – or if they even want to go there in the first place with reviews of businesses – augmented reality is shaping up to change our world.

But currently showing at the 2013 CES (News - Alert) event is a system designed to bring augmented reality to a wholly unexpected screen: television.

The Point system from Telibrahma allows users to use their phones – which makes this a bit more standard as augmented reality goes – to connect to certain Point-enabled movies, commercials, straight television programs and regular videos to get access to unique experiences.

Telibrahma's CEO and founder, Suresh Narasimha, likens it to Shazam (News - Alert), calling it “the next level of engagement.”

Point is geared toward getting users more involved in programming, as well as giving brands a better way to communicate with their audiences. As such, it's not just going to work for television, as it's set to also work with a variety of more conventional media like print ads, editorials, and even brand logos.

Point can be downloaded right now from Telibrahma's mobile website.

The idea behind Telibrahma's Point system is unusual, but also impressive in its own way. Want to know what's coming out from, say, EA? Wondering what's on special this month at Olive Garden? Want to know what people think of that new store that opened in the area? Just point a smartphone at their logos – even if they're just online – and Point could provide a release calendar, a summary of special offerings, or a set of store reviews.

Those are just examples, of course, but it's the kind of thing that Point might well be doing before too much longer has passed. That's likely to be valuable to advertisers, with a way to better measure the effectiveness of advertising across nearly all media – print, online and television – as well as provide better means of interacting with it, increasing its value and overall effectiveness by improving engagement.

Point's future for advertisers will take some time to fully emerge, but it does represent a series of possibilities that are well worth considering. It's got the capability to change, or even improve, advertising as we know it as well as media presentation in general, so be sure to keep an eye out for Point, an app that's taking augmented reality in an unusual new direction.